Sulphur compounds



radicals forming an open raienied'Ms 1, 1945 sauces SULPHUR. coMroUnns Mai-us de Sim.

Piedmont, and John J. O'Connor,

Oakland, Caliih, assignors to Shell Development Company, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application April 29, 1941,

Sjerial No. 390,937 i 7 Claims.

directed to a group of new compounds having technically advan properties and broadly includes mer This invention is chemical tageous captans having the thiol group directly attached I to a carbon atom to which at least two aliphatic I chain of at least 10 carbon atoms are also directly attached, and mercaptides and esters of such new sulphonic acids. The new compounds of the invention are monothiols having an open chain of at least 10 carbon atoms which maybe represented by the formula Q where R represents a hydrogen atom or a saturated hydrocarbon radical, R and R each represents a hydrocarbon radical and X represents a cation or ester group. A preferred group of the new compounds is that having from 10 to 20 or preferably 10 to 17 carbon atoms per molecule, as these compounds may be oxidized to sulphonic acids which, particularly in the form of their salts, exhibit useful surface active properties to an unusually high degree. Especially useful products are those of the foregoing formula in which R represents hydrogen and preferably those in which R and R represent aliphatic hydrocarbon radicals having at least 2 carbon atoms.

The new mercaptans may be produced in a number of different ways.

One advantageous methodis by reaction of the corresponding alkyl halides with a suitable hydrosulphide, for example, the alkali metal hydrosulphides. The reaction is preferably carried out in an alcoholic solution, but other solvents in which bothreactants are soluble may also be used. It is also feasible to carry out the process without a solvent by simply heating the chosen atom attached-to a carbon at least once removed from the end of an open chain of at least 10 carbon atoms may be used. The halide employed may be either saturated or unsaturated. In the latter case halides having the halogen atom attached to a carbon atom which is directly l joined to no unsaturated carbon atoms are preierably employed. Suitable halides may be obtained by chlorinating paraiilns or by addition of hydrogen halides to olefines such as are produced by cracking paraffin wax or the like. Typical of IO-chloro-nonadecane,

" cue-6,

the halides which may be used as starting materials for the new mercaptans of the invention are: 2-chlorodecane, 3-bromoundecane', 3-chlorododecane, 4-chlorotetradecane, 5-bromo-pentadecane, 2-chloro-2-methyl-decane, 3-chloro-'3-.

ethyl-undecane, 'l-chloro-7-methyl tetradecane. l l-bromo-heneicosane, l2-chloro-12-methyl-tricosane, 2-chloro-tridec- 4-bromo-pentadecene-8, 2-chloro-2- methyl-hexadecene-B, 3-chloro-3-ethyl-octadecone-10, 10-chloro=2-methyl-nonadecene-2, 2- chloro-2, 6-dimethyl-13-ethyl-pentadecene-6 and the like. Such halides may be used as the pure or substantially pure individuals or as mixtures, thereof with or without other compounds which may be inert or may undergo simultaneous reaction without interfering with the production of the desired mercaptan or mercaptans.

Another method of ,producing the new mercaptans is by reaction of salts of the corresponding alkyl acid esters of sulphuricand phosphoric acid with a hydrosulphide. Thus, for example, sodium octadecyl-Q sulphate reacts with sodium acid sulphide to give octadecyl-Q-mercaptan and sodium di- (tridecyl-B) phosphate gives trideciyl- 3-merc'aptan under similar conditions. U. S. Patents 2,139,393 and 2,139,394 describe particularly advantageous methods of preparing salts of alkyl sulphates and phosphates of 10 or more carbon atoms per molecule which are suitable starting materials for the compounds of the present invention.

hydrosulphide with Reduction of the corresponding disulphides provides another method of producing the new mercaptans. The reduction may be carried out with "iron and sulphuric acid, tin and ,hydro-' chloric acid or 'catalytically. Diheptadecyl-B disulphide, for example, may be converted in this way to heptadecyl-8-mercaptan. Unsymmetrical disulphides may be used as well as symmetrical disulphides. Copending application Serial No. 337,324, filed May 25, 1940, describes a large number of disulphides which may be similarly converted to mercaptans.

Reaction of secondary and tertiary alkyl halides of ten or more carbon atoms with thiourea, or of the corresponding dithiocarbonates with sodium hydroxide may also be used to prepare the new mercaptans. Particularly when saturated mercaptans aredesired, they may be obtained by reacting oleflnic mixtures comprising olefines having at least 10 carbon atoms in a straight chain with hydrogen sulphide in accordance with U. s. Patent 2,052,268; r r

The new mercaptans of the invention are capable of a wide variety of advantageous uses. They may be employed as corrosion inhibitors, particularly in acid pickling baths and in the acid cleaning'oi'. oil wells and the like. They are also useful in separation of minerals by the froth flotation or til like They are medially advantageous intermediates in the production of other valuable organic compounds. They may be converted by mild oxidation to disuliides which may be employed in rubber compounding. On more vigorousoxidation, for example with nitric acid, the new mercaptans which have especially advantagmmrface active .properties and are unusually effective-textile wet! ting and foaming agents. This reaction is more fully described and claimed along with the new sulphonateg obtained thereby in copending 81kplic'ation Serial No. 286,156, died July 24, 1939, which the present application is a continuationin-part. Sulphcnes, sulphonium compounds and ghelike may also be prepared iromthenew mercar aw- The new mercaptans readily react with alkali metals forming sodium. potassium and like. mercsptides. when added to mercuric oxide or to an alcoholic solution of mercuric chloride. they form mercury mercaptides which are' advantageous parasiticides. The corresponding lead and copper maroaptides are useful componenisot insecticides and the like.

Another type of derivative within the scope of the invention is the thin-esters which may be regarded as formed by addition of organic acids to the new mercaptans with splitting out of water. Thio-esters corresponding to fatty acids such as formic, acetic, propionic, isobutyric. stearic, oleic. methacrylic, lactic and like acids may be prodnced as well asthose derived from. aromatic and polycarboxylic acids such as benzoic acid, oxalic acid. tartaric acid and the like. These new compounds mvaybe conveniently produced, for example, by reacting the new mercaptans with acid halides of the organic acid which it. is desired to combine with the mercaptan. Thus, for example, acetyl chloride may be reacted with tetradecylz-mercaptan. and the corresponding thioacetate iomsumhonicaoidl asvdees sure for nine hours. The WW tertiary dodecyl mercaptan was quite unstable and decomposed when -treated with alcoholic lead acetate. It may be recovered from the reaction.

products by vacuum distillation or preferably by extraction with ethyl ether.

Example!!! A; Cm fraction of cracked wax oleiines boiling around l32".0. at 5 mm. and having an average molecular weight of 220 was reacted in 1000 cc.

' batches in a horizontal autoclave with hydrogen 4'-mercaptan,. tetradecyhb-mercaptan, tetrasiecyl- 6 mercaptan, tetreclecyl macaptan, 2,4,8- tzimethyhd o d e e'y l-d-mercepmm hexadecyi-1- mercaptan and the like, wrtiary saturated mercaptans, for example, 3-methyl-decyl-3-mercaptan, i-methyl-undecyll-mercaptan, d-methyl- 3-ethyl-decyl-6-mercaptan, 8-niethyl-pentadecylil-mercaptan, 'l-metlryl-tridecyl-l-mercaptan-and obtained. These newthio-esters are solvents.

Example I a alumna was obtained by dehydrating with 10% of concentrated sulphuric acid at 14fl --14B C. a secondary dodecyl alcohol obtained from cracked wax oleflnes. From analysis the dodecene appeared to be close to 100% pure. It boiled. at 95 C. under 15 mm. pressure and had a density of 0.7582 (20/4).

This dodecene was reacted with hydrogen sulphide at 280 'C. and 1800 to 2000- lbs. pressure in thepresence 01 7%.- acetic anhydride and 7% of nickel sulphide on pumic as catalyst. The mercaptan cut fromvacuum fractionation of the reaction products showed 93% mercaptan. This secondary mercaptan boils at 88 C. under. 1 mm. pressure and at 112 C. at 5 mm. This mercaptan was oxidized byadding it to 9.50% aqueous solution oi nitric acid. vigorously agitated and kept at 70 C. and. a secondary sodium sulphonate obtained by neutralization of the resulting upper layer. This sulphonate analyzed-51.0% carbon,

9.5% hydrogen, 11.1% sulphur, 8.31% sodiumand (by diii'erence) 20.1% oxygen.

maple 1r Trl-isobntylene was reacted at 200 c. with hydrogen sulphide under about mll'pound presthe like and unsaturated mercaptans such as 1- rnethyl-d-heptenathiol, l-methyl-G-dodecenethiol, l-ethyl-Z hexsdecenethiol, i-methyl-lethyl-3-butenethicl, hl-diethyl-B-methyl-fi-bw tenethiol, lmethyl-l-propyl-6-dcdecenethiol, etc.

It will thus be seen that a wide variety of valuable mercaptans, mercaptides and this-esters are .withinthe scope of the invention which lsnot limited to the compounds specifically described by way'of illustration.

We claim as our invention: 1. Anonnai, secondary hexadecyl monothiol. 2. A. secondary alkyl monothiol containing less than 17 carbon atoms per molecule and at least 10 carbon atoms in a straight chain.

Secondary aliphatic monothiols of the general formula RSH in which R. represents a secondary open chain saturated aliphatic hydrocar hon radical containing 11 to 20 carbon atoms.

a. A secondary aliphatic mono-oleflnic monothiol having 10 to 20 carbon atoms per molecule in which the thiol group is attached to a carbon atom to which two saturated carbon atomsv are directly attached.

5. An aliphatic secondary monome'rcaptide having a. thiol sulphur atom directly attached to a carbon atom to which two aliphatic radicals forming an open chain 0!- 10 to 20 carbon atoms chain of 16! to 20 carbon atoms are also directly attached;

' mm or: snub.

JOHN J; o'oomvon. V 

